Pygmy Puffs and Quidditch
by TheSummerNightingale
Summary: Julia Montague is studious. She's quiet, she's complex, she's sweet. James Sirius Potter is a troublemaker. He's loud, he's straightforward, he's not afraid to speak his mind. They're perfect for each other.
1. In the Library

******Hey everyone! This was written for the OC x Canon Competition, hosted by ProudToBeSlytherin :) **

******Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

******Julia's POV**

The first time Julia Montague saw James Sirius Potter on the Hogwarts Express, she immediately and subconsciously decided she was going to stay far, far away.

For Merlin's sake, that boy was loud. He spoke with this commanding tone that drew everyone's attention to him. He had a certain carefree swing in his step that appeared to release energy with his every movement. And if that weren't enough, he had his pranks.

James Potter was notorious for his pranks. He was, after all, named after the original James Potter and Sirius Black, two of Hogwarts's most infamous pranksters. Sometimes the entire student body swore that the only reason why the school board let James off for half the things he did was because his father happened to be the great Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding World.

Anyway, Potter Pranks were nothing like regular little jokes. Potter Pranks, as dubbed by the Gryffindors, were ten times worse. They generally consisted of one small action triggering a billion others that would eventually lead to an entire classroom's worth of people being splattered with products from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

Julia was somewhat of a goody-two shoes, which was probably why she'd decided to make that vow to stay away from James Potter and his group of friends in the first place. They were troublemakers. They were popular. They were _loud_. And they were everything that Julia wasn't.

It was fairly simple to avoid James, since she was a year younger. She didn't particularly _target _James and tell herself that she needed to stay away. It wasn't the family, either. She was fine with talking to Albus Potter, who was in her year.

It just was a little voice in the back of her mind, a little string that never allowed her to even think that she could ever befriend or talk to someone so outgoing as James Potter.

Unfortunately for her, there came a day where fate decided to tie a little knot in her string and pull it straight towards the very person that she subconsciously avoided.

That was the day that Julia Montague fell.

* * *

"Ow."

Julia's cheeks turned an unflattering shade of crimson as she embarrassedly picked herself off the library floor and plunked back into the chair that she'd fallen out of while in the land of printed words and jumbled spells.

"Can I just stop studying?" she moaned to herself quietly, even though she knew that the answer was a completely firm "no". Being a fifth-year, not studying was a crime, especially when O.W.L.s were coming up in three months.

"Sure you can."

Julia literally jumped in her seat, letting out an involuntary squeal as a boy with messy black hair made his way to her table. He wore a lopsided grin that clearly stated that he'd seen her fall from her chair and found it amusing. She found it absolutely mortifying.

She watched in half-wonder and half-indignation as James Potter pulled the seat across from her and promptly sat in it.

"You do get scared easily, don't you?" he asked with a slight smirk.

"I don't normally," Julia protested whilst making a mental list of reasons why James Potter might be sitting in the library across from her. "You just startled me."

"Mhm."

She gave up on making her list, and directed her attention back at her Charms book, trying to resume her reading. But somehow, it was very hard, considering the fact that she was painfully aware of the Gryffindor's presence. She picked up a quill and attempted to take notes on her parchment, but while her eyes saw the letters, her mind couldn't seem to process the words.

_Just don't look up_, Julia commanded herself. She'd trained herself not to be drawn to people like James, so it should have been easy.

And it might have been, had James not spoken up.

"Say, you're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?"

Julia didn't lift her eyes from the book page, terrified at the thought of looking James Potter in the eyes. "How perceptive," she managed to say calmly, though she was tense all over, "considering the fact I'm wearing my tie."

Indeed, the blue and bronze Ravenclaw tie was strung around her blouse and could clearly be seen through her dark brown locks.

"Well, yeah, but I was thinking more along the lines that only a Ravenclaw would be inside studying when it's such a nice day out." He paused, and added in a slight murmur, "Except for Aunt 'Mione, of course."

Julia glanced towards the window. The soft blues that were rarely seen covered the sky today. Rays of sunlight poured onto the ground. It was a truly beautiful day.

"I can't go outside. I've got to focus on my work," she explained, forcing herself to turn and look James in the eyes.

"What for?" he asked, baffled.

"O.W.L.s, of course."

James blinked at her. "You're crazy."

Julia pursed her lips and looked down at her book again, her grip on the quill bending the fragile base. She really needed to focus on her O.W.L. study session, but something kept her from it. "Maybe. But at least I've got a reason. Why are _you _in here?"

He shrugged, and his hazel eyes flashed mischievously. It made her pull her arms closer in as she was reminded that this person - this Gryffindor - was a complete troublemaker.

"I'm hiding from my friend," James said idly. "She's crazy."

Julia raised her eyebrows, but didn't say much, as she wouldn't want to probe. "Alright."

"Say." James leaned closer to her and she immediately sat as far back in her chair as possible. "What's your name?"

Julia contemplated about whether to answer or not. Father had always taught her not to tell people her name unless she was comfortable, and James Potter didn't quite fit into that category.

"Julia Montague."

He extended a hand over the table. "James Potter."

"I know," she blurted out as they shook hands.

It was his turn to raise his dark eyebrows.

"I've heard about your pranks," she rushed to explain, her cheeks turning hot. "And I happened to be in the one where it rained Pygmy Puffs."

James laughed aloud, and Julia somehow found the sound to be very inviting. "Oh, that one. I remember. I'm sure everyone loved that one because they got to keep some. Oh, the benefits of being a Weasley - we get free Wizarding Wheezes products!"

"Oh yes, my friend has a Pygmy Puff, thanks to you now."

"Do you?"

"Of course, not!" She did. It was up in her dorm with her friend's.

"Aw, shame." He grinned at her. "Anyway, you said your last name's Montague?" James scrunched up his face. "Sounds familiar, though I don't know why it would be."

The smile instantly melted off Julia's face. She felt her stomach plummet to the ground and her hands turned ice-cold. "I can't imagine why it would." She hoped desperately that he couldn't hear the slight tremor in her voice.

"Maybe our parents know each other?" James ventured.

"No," Julia replied. She placed her hands in her lap so he wouldn't see how they were shaking. "I'm pretty sure they don't." Worse than that. It was worse.

"Must be something else then," James shrugged. She sighed in relief as he dropped the matter and changed the subject. "What do you think of Quidditch?"

"You're on the Gryffindor team, right?"

James puffed up his chest proudly. "Of course. I'm a Beater."

"Then I don't think it's the best idea to tell you my opinion on Quidditch."

James's mouth fell open. "You don't mean to say-"

"-that I think Quidditch's a silly sport?"

He gave a gasp of horror. "You did _not _just say that."

Julia shrugged. "I mean, it's my honest opinion. All you do is throw around a couple of balls."

"Throw around a-" James cut himself off in his indignation. "You need to be educated of the world of Quidditch. You need to go on a broom ride. You need to - you need to -" He stopped in the midst of his spluttering, and let out a deep moan.

"Sorry," Julia offered.

He just shook his head and said in a joking tone, "Don't talk to me."

"Okay."

There was silence, and then-

"I was just kidding, you know."

"I know."

And that was how their friendship first started.

* * *

**James's POV**

The first time James Sirius Potter saw Julia Montague, he thought she was crazy.

For Merlin's sake, she was studying! Even worse, she was studying on a day where the sun shone, the sky was clear, and the wind was just perfect for playing Quidditch. And to top the whole damned thing off, he'd discovered she was studying for O.W.L.s.

He pretty much had no choice but to believe that she was out of her mind.

But the first time he saw her happened to also be the first time he spoke to her, so James Potter quickly discovered that Julia Montague wasn't crazy, for the most part. In fact, he found her to be interesting in the simplest way. Quiet, but resonating. She was mysterious, yet blended into the crowds.

He was absolutely intrigued by her.

* * *

"Crazy," James muttered as he darted from one aisle of books to another. "Absolutely crazy."

His friend, Marcus Jordan, would probably burst into hysterics if he saw James right now. He'd snicker and say something like, "Hiding from a girl. And you're supposed to be a Gryffindor."

And had their positions been reversed, James fully acknowledged that he'd tell Marcus those exact words, but if his name was James Sirius Potter, then Alison Fletcher was a whole different case entirely.

Honestly. That girl was truly crazy, and the unfortunate thing was that she happened to be truly crazy for him.

And James had had his fair share of girls asking him to Hogsmeade and such, but when Alison approached him with roses that looked like they were from Madam Puddifoot's, he hadn't had the time to reply before she thrusted the flowers upon him and begged him to take her on "a romantic stroll up to the Astronomy Tower to see the stars".

It was midday.

He'd tried to give the flowers back to Alison, but she'd refused to take them, insisting that they take their romantic little walk. And then she'd tried to kiss his cheek, which was honestly the last straw for him, and James had taken that moment to rush out of the Gryffindor common room and away from the girl who seemed intent on capturing his heart.

He turned around another corner of the library shelves, peering behind him. He was almost certain that he'd lost her on the third floor, but girls had ways of getting the things they wanted, and he could never be too cautious around them. That was something he'd learned from Uncle Ron and Aunt 'Mione.

When he was finally certain that Alison was not following him anymore, James idly strolled through the aisle of books, and was just deciding he'd stay in the library just in case, when he heard a little squeak.

"Ow."

Curious at the sound, James rounded yet another corner of bookshelf to be met with the sight of a petite girl picking herself off of the ground and grumbling, "Can I just stop studying?"

James noticed the stack of books on the table in front of her, and immediately decided he needed to save this damsel in distress. Studying too hard was rather detrimental. After all, the girl had just fallen off her chair and that was probably because she'd been studying for a long time.

"Sure you can," he stated majestically, fully revealing himself and starting towards the empty chair across from the girl. He grinned as she let out another squeak and blushed, probably realizing that he'd seen her fall.

Her dark eyes watched him carefully as James pulled the chair from under the table and sat down. He couldn't help but notice how tense she seemed compared to a few seconds ago, and commented, "You do get scared easily, don't you?"

The girl's mouth fell open in slight indignation. "I don't normally. You just startled me," she defended herself. Her voice was slightly tremulous, and yet had this sweet, clear quality to it that James couldn't help but take note of.

"Mhm," he nodded, for a lack of anything better to say.

The girl blinked a couple of times, then directed her attention back onto the huge tome that sat in front of her. Charms, it looked like. James didn't like Charms as much as he did Transfiguration.

He sat back in his chair, calmly watching the girl fidget under his gaze. She was pretty, he supposed. Though he wasn't sure if he would particularly notice her if she were walking down the corridor. She was subtle, too.

She picked up her quill, with the obvious intention of taking notes, but by the nervous shaking of her hand, he was fairly certain her mind was on other things. Suppressing a grin, he decided to take her out of her misery.

"Say," he said, "you're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?"

The girl appeared to be quite determined to ignore him. She kept her eyes on the book page as she replied coolly, "How perceptive, considering the fact I'm wearing my tie."

James tilted his head. "Well, yeah, but I was thinking more along the lines that only a Ravenclaw would be inside studying when it's such a nice day out. Except for Aunt 'Mione, of course."

The girl whipped her head towards the window, causing her dark brown hair to shift her parchment the slightest bit. A longing expression grew upon her face, but it quickly disappeared as she turned back to him and stated, "I can't go outside. I've got to focus on my work."

Her eyes distracted him. Just a little bit. He cleared his throat. "What for?" he asked.

She seemed mildly surprised that he didn't know the answer. "O.W.L.s, of course," she replied.

James gave her a strange look as he calculated the months until the end of the year. There were three months left until O.W.L.s. And this girl was sacrificing such a beautiful day to study. He wasn't even beginning to be concerned about his own N.E.W.T.s, and this fifth-year was inside, studying for her O.W.L.s. Aunt Hermione would love that, but as for James… "You're crazy," he said.

The girl pursed her lips and glanced down. "Maybe," she said evenly, "but at least I've got a reason. Why are you in here?"

James resisted the urge to smirk at the thought of Marcus and what he'd say if he'd seen James running down the halls away from Alison. "Er, I'm hiding from my friend," James said. Alison wasn't quite his friend, but he didn't really feel like explaining the embarrassing situation he was in. "She's crazy."

She raised her dark eyebrows at him. "Alright."

James kind of liked the fact that she didn't probe further. He'd been fine if she had, but that she hadn't… it was interesting. He found himself wanting to know more about this crazy girl who was inside studying on one of the more serene days Hogwarts ever saw in the year.

He leaned in, effectively causing the girl to shift backwards as he said, "Say, what's your name?"

She blinked, and seemed to draw back even more. "Julia Montague," she said a little bit hesitantly.

At the sound of her last name, James blinked in surprise. It sounded vaguely familiar, though he couldn't imagine where it would be from.

James extended a hand. "James Potter."

"I know," came the reply as Julia shook his hand. Her hand felt warm and small.

He raised his eyebrows at her, and she quickly amended her words, hand gestures accompanying her frantic explanation.

"I've heard about your pranks. And I happened to be in the one where it rained Pygmy Puffs." Her cheeks were red.

He chuckled as he remembered the particular prank she was talking about. "Oh, that one. I remember. I'm sure everyone loved that one because they got to keep some. Oh, the benefits of being a Weasley - we get free Wizarding Wheezes products!"

Technically, James wasn't supposed to get Wizarding Wheezes products at all, but his Uncle George had a soft spot for his pranking habits, and liked to give James free products in secret. They called it a friendly donation. Mum liked to refer to it as a shady transaction.

Julia smiled. "Oh, yes, my friend has a Pygmy Puff, thanks to you now."

He nodded, and asked curiously, "Do you?" She seemed the type to cuddle up with one.

"No."

Or not.

"Aw, shame," he said. He paused, and a nagging feeling itched at the back of his mind. "Anyway," he said as he remembered what he was going to comment on, "you said your last name's Montague? It sounds familiar, though I don't know why it would be." He tapped his fingers on the table, delving into the deeper parts of his memory to try to figure it out. But the most he could come up with was something to do with the newspaper, and well, the newspaper was a little… broad.

"I can't imagine why it would," Julia replied, looking just as confused as he was.

"Maybe our parents know each other?" James offered, but he knew that wasn't the case.

Apparently, so did she. "No," she said solidly, leaving no room for doubt. "I'm pretty sure they don't."

He shrugged and gave up on searching through his mind. "Must be something else, then." He grinned. "Hey, what do you think of Quidditch?" he asked eagerly. She looked like a Quidditch girl, and Quidditch girls were always rather ravishing, in his opinion.

"You're on the Gryffindor team, right?"

James nodded, feeling slightly proud that she either knew or correlated him with the idea of a Quidditch player. "Of course. I'm a Beater." Girls always liked the fact he was a Beater. His younger sister, Lily, had told him once that it was because they thought Beaters were strong (of course, she'd immediately went on to insult him and say that most Beaters were strong, and he was categorized in the portions that weren't).

Julia smiled grimly. "Then I don't think it's the best idea to tell you my opinion on Quidditch."

His jaw fell open. No way. No way in Merlin's baggy pants. She couldn't be- she couldn't be one of those people. "You don't mean to say-" he started slowly.

"-that I think Quidditch's a silly sport?" She sounded content with her opinion. Happy, even.

James sucked in a long breath. How was it possible for one to insult Quidditch happily? "You did not just say that."

Julia bit her lip. "I mean, it's my honest opinion. All you do is throw around a couple of balls."

Oh Merlin. She was one of those people.

"Throw around a-" James was so overwhelmed by his indignation and shock that people who didn't approve of Quidditch actually existed other than in the petite form of Aunt Hermione that he struggled to find words to express himself. "You need to be educated in the world of Quidditch. You need to go on a broom ride. You need to - you need to-" He stopped, unable to continue, and groaned.

Julia looked as though she was hiding a smile. "Sorry," she said in her naturally innocent voice.

"Don't talk to me."

She shrugged. "Okay."

James waited for her to speak up again, but when he glanced at her, her eyes were focused on the page of her Charms book, and she dipped her quill into ink and began to actually take notes. His mouth fell open, then he closed it with a grin.

"I was just kidding, you know," he ventured out.

He watched as she gave a sincere smile down at her book, still not looking up. "I know," she replied simply.

And that was how their crazy friendship first started.

* * *

******How was that? This generation always intrigues me, and I love seeing how much has changed from after the war :) Reviews, anyone? **


	2. Potters, Weasley, and Malfoy

******Thanks for all the wonderful feedback :) I appreciate each and every review, follow, and favorite from all you lovely readers!**

******I just wanted to note that this story is planned to be four chapters and four chapters only, because that's the limit for the competition this is for :P So I am terribly sorry if this seems a little rushed or anything of those likes, but I'll still try to keep it as realistic as possible!**

******I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Julia's POV**

It was in Charms, when Julia was in the process of gathering up her parchment, ink, and quills, that Albus Potter approached her desk.

"Hey, Julia," he said with the kind tone in his voice that had many of her friends mooning over him.

"Hi, Albus." She couldn't help but smile. He had that effect on people. It was something about his sweetness that other guys didn't seem to have.

Albus leaned in, his emerald eyes curious. "You haven't happened to have spoken to my brother, have you?"

She nearly dropped her ink jar onto the ground. "James?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. He said he met you." For some reason, he sounded hesitant.

It had been a week since that original meeting in the library, and though they'd not sat down and talked, James had waved to Julia each time they passed in the hallway or in the Great Hall for meals. They'd even exchanged pleasantries (well, as much of pleasantries as he was capable of making) a couple of times.

Julia tried to shrug as if she wasn't internally panicking at the mention of James Potter, and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "We talked a bit. Not much. Mostly about Quidditch," she added, rolling her eyes.

Albus laughed. "He's obsessed with it, isn't he?"

"You could say that."

He looked as if he was going to say something else, but refrained from doing so. Julia briefly wondered what it was, but shoved the thought away. It was probably nothing.

The two began walking out of the Charms classroom, trailing behind the rest of the class to the Great Hall for lunch.

As they rounded a corner, Albus suddenly called out to the group of people in front. "Scor! Hey, Scorpius!"

The young Malfoy's trademark platinum-blond hair glinted as he spun around and peered through the wave of students.

Albus weaved his way through the crowd, with Julia following him.

"Running off like that," Albus grumbled as the Malfoy spotted them. "You could have waited for me."

"You take forever" was Scorpius's short reply. He grinned at Julia and gestured to Albus with a rolling of his eyes.

She smiled at him in response. She and Scorpius had a slight bond, in the sense that they'd both unintentionally broke their families' traditions. The only difference was that his father didn't care. Her father… well. He was a different case.

She shook her head and brought herself back to the moment.

"I wanted to get back to the Gryffindor Tower to fetch something," Scorpius was informing them. "That's why I left early."

"Fetch something," Albus repeated with a slight smirk on his face. "Something for my cousin?"

Scorpius blushed crimson and punched his arm. "Shut up."

"You and Rose are lovely," Julia grinned. "Though I wish you good luck with her. She's a feisty one."

Scorpius grimaced. "Yeah, I figured that out." He suddenly brightened up. "Hey, Julia. You're friends with Rose, aren't you?"

"Yes, somewhat."

The Malfoy's grey eyes lit up. "Oh! Do you think you could possibly stall her for a little while? I promised I'd meet her in front of the Great Hall, but I need to go get her stuff first."

Julia nodded, suppressing a smile. The Weasley and Malfoy were really a cute couple. "Sure, I'll do that. She'll be in front of the doors?"

"Yeah. Thanks a bunch, Julia!" Scorpius said with immense gratitude.

"Say, what did you get her, anyway?" Albus asked curiously.

"Chocolate-covered strawberries," Scorpius shrugged. "I ordered them from this Muggle shop Mum recommended."

"Oh, is it a special day, or something?" Julia questioned.

"Nope."

"Oh."

Albus saved her from her embarrassment. "Scor likes to do this thing where he spontaneously surprises Rose."

"How sweet!" Julia couldn't help but gush.

"It's just something I like to do. At any rate, it keeps her calm." Scorpius peered around, and said confidentially, "Sometimes I swear that girl should have been sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of her family."

Julia nodded in agreement. "Don't I know."

"Do you remember how shocked Uncle Ron was when he found out?" Albus snorted.

"Didn't he send a Howler to her?" Scorpius pondered.

Albus nodded, smirking. "And then he felt so bad about it that he sent her bunches of sweets for the rest of that week."

Both the boys snickered until Julia, stifling her laughs, shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other and said, "I'm going to the Great Hall now. See you later?"

"Yeah," Albus said. "We'll be down quickly. Or at least, I'll be. I don't know about this dolt," he muttered, which resulted in a slug to his arm.

"I'd never keep Rose waiting!" Scorpius declared majestically. He grinned at Julia. "But really, thanks. We'll be there as soon as possible."

"Anytime," Julia smiled back, and turned towards the direction of the Great Hall. She could hear the small bantering between the two boys behind her and couldn't help but marvel at the strange relationship between the Potter and the Malfoy. She wondered what was so different about Draco Malfoy that could make him so… accepting.

When she was about to turn the corner that led to the Great Hall, the first thing Julia heard was James Potter.

"Rose! Oh, my sweet Rose!"

His words were met with a toneless reply. "Shut up, James."

Julia was met with the scene of a few groups of students heading into the Great Hall for lunch, talking and laughing quietly. To the side of the doors stood James and a very irritated-looking Rose Weasley.

Rose spotted her first and immediately rushed towards her. "Julia!" she cried out in obvious relief.

"Rose," Julia greeted with a smile. Just as every other time she saw the Slytherin Weasley, she couldn't help but admire the way the redhead somehow made the green and silver tie just _fit_with her persona. It seemed to complement everything about her.

"Have you seen Scorpius?" Rose asked. "Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had Charms just now, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Julia said, her brain whirring to think of what to say. She really should have planned this before. "He and Albus had to go to the loo," she blurted out. "They'll be here soon, though."

"Oh," Rose said, wrinkling her nose, and grabbed Julia's shoulder, leaning in. "Do you mind staying here with me until they come?" she asked hurriedly. "My cousin-"

A hand settled on Julia's arm and she flinched, shifting to the side.

"Julia!" James exclaimed. "Nice to see you again!"

She managed a small smile up at the sixth-year Gryffindor. "Yeah. Nice." She could only meet his hazel eyes for a couple of seconds before nervously flitting away and glancing at Rose.

"You know each other?" the redhead asked, then shook her head. "I'm sorry you've ever met him, Julia. Just know all of us Weasleys and Potters aren't as bad as he is."

"Hey, now," James said, slinging an arm over Rose's shoulder. "Don't be mean. Julia and I are buds, right?"

"Er," Julia blushed, unsure of what to say. Merlin, she needed to get a _grip _on herself.

James nudged her side. "You know, we had that talk in the library? Remember? And you were - what were you doing - studying for O.W.L.'s?"

"I remember," she said defensively. "But that doesn't mean we're automatically friends."

"Oh, but it _does_." He gave her a suggestive wink. "Anything to do with me automatically means we're friends. I'm just that friendly!"

Julia raised her eyebrows, but didn't trust herself to retort back. Who knew? She could accidentally blurt out something stupid that would completely throw James or even Rose off, and that wasn't typically the desired effect she liked to have on others.

"Yeah, yeah," Rose was saying. "Now stop bothering us."

James didn't stop bothering them, and Julia found herself liking that.

"So," the Potter said, "how are you, Julia?"

"Good. You?"

"Excellent."

She nodded awkwardly, then noticed Rose watching James suspiciously. James followed her line of sight, and frowned as he asked Rose, "What?"

The Weasley narrowed her eyes. "You're being too nice."

"Excuse me?"

"You're never this cordial, and you're being polite." Rose's eyes darted from James to Julia, who blinked in slight confusion.

James opened his mouth in indignation, but was cut off by a call from down the corridor.

"Rose! Hey, Rose!"

The three of them swiveled their heads to see Albus and Scorpius, with a dark brown box in his hands, waving to them.

"Ah, Scorp!" James said delightedly, rushing over to the Malfoy's side. "What've you gotten there?"

Scorpius grinned widely as he approached Rose. "Just a little something," he said a little sheepishly, handing the box to Rose, who had a tender smile on her face that was very unlike her.

"You've got to stop doing this," she said, shaking her head as she took the lid off the box. She gasped at the contents. "Chocolate-covered strawberries!" she exclaimed, her hazel eyes shining brightly. "Thanks, Scorpius, you're the best." She reached out an arm to hug him. As she buried her face into his chest, Scorpius quickly motioned at Albus, Julia, and James to move into the Great Hall.

"Private moment," he mouthed silently, which promptly made James snort.

Julia smiled encouragingly at Scorpius then beckoned the two siblings to follow her and leave Rose and Scorpius to their intimacy. Albus started to walk towards the doors of the Great Hall, but James was still rooted in his spot.

Huffing in exasperation, Julia made as to grab James's wrist to pull him towards the doors, but at that moment, James shifted his position and instead of landing a solid grip around his wrist, Julia's hand slipped into James's.

The warmth of his hand was surprisingly pleasant, and as James turned to look at her, wide-eyed, she couldn't help but notice how the curves of their hands just seemed to fit. Which sounded incredibly cliché, but also happened to be incredibly… incredible.

James had nice eyes. They were hazel, with flecks of green embedded somewhere in there. They were warm. They were staring directly into hers - oh, no, they weren't anymore, they were looking down at where their hands were entwined-

She yelped, releasing his hand, and jumped back about two feet, blushing furiously.

"Sorry!" Julia gasped, effectively causing Albus to pause in his tracks, and Scorpius and Rose to break apart to glance over. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Merlin, she was blushing like a maniac. She backed away from James, who was regarding her with an expression that she couldn't and didn't really feel like deciphering - she was that mortified. "Sorry," she repeated, then looked over at Scorpius and Rose. "Sorry," she said to them. "I'm just… I'm just going to go into the Great Hall now," she said lamely.

Julia turned, her heart beating quickly as she clutched at the strap of her bag and stiffly began to walk towards the Great Hall. The span of ten feet had never felt so long. She could practically feel the burning of everyone's eyes on her back.

It made her tense up even more.

She forced herself to stay calm as she placed a hand on the door and pushed, allowing a trickle of laughter and conversation to reach their ears from within the hall. She slipped in through the crack and breathed a long sigh of relief.

She'd escaped. Thank Merlin, she'd escaped.

Smiling at the thought that she wasn't as red as a beet anymore, Julia started to the Ravenclaw table, where she could spot her friends laughing over plates of sandwiches. They looked up and waved at her, and she returned the gesture enthusiastically.

She grinned as she glanced over to the Gryffindor table by the edge. There was a beauty of the Great Hall that she'd never really appreciated until now: the tables were separated by Houses, which meant that she could completely avoid the Potter family (namely, James).

"Hey, Julia!"

Scratch that.

Julia was half-cringing, half-fighting the blush that was rising to her cheeks as she turned around in half-dread, half-terror to face a certain James Potter, who was walking towards her. His face was a mask of half-anticipation, half-confusion.

Oh, look. They matched.

"That was exciting," James said as he came to a stop in front of her. He wore a smirk, but his voice was quieter than she'd observed it to be for the past five years.

"Sorry," she squeaked. It seemed as if that was the only word she was capable of saying around him.

"It's not a problem," James said, waving his hand. "Anyway, I was just thinking of something else."

She tilted her head up at him curiously, mostly to force herself into keeping her eyes on his face and not somewhere off in the distance.

"For some reason, I find being in your company rather… enlightening." James scratched his chin thoughtfully, then laughed a little. "Let's meet up sometime later today."

James Potter thought her company was enlightening. He thought she was enlightening. A person thought she was enlightening. Cripes. What was this?

"Er," she said brilliantly. Oh, she was _certainly _being enlightening. She blinked a few times. "Oh. Yeah. Sure. How about after dinner? In the library?"

She glanced over to the Ravenclaw table, painfully aware of the fact that her two best friends were currently staring at her and James, their eyes large and intense.

She turned back to James, who was nodding.

"Sounds good, since I've got Quidditch practice after classes, anyway." He grinned slyly. "As long as you don't have to study for O.W.L.s or anything."

Julia hopped a little as she remembered O.W.L.s, and gasped. "Oh, yeah! I completely forgot! I've got this schedule," she explained, "and today happens to be the day that I've got to color-code my notes!"

James's mouth fell open and he stared at her, slack-jawed. After deciding she wasn't going to laugh and tell him it was a joke, he said, "I was kidding, but you're not, are you?"

She bit her lip, holding back a laugh. "Not quite."

He made a show of rolling his eyes and said dramatically, "Well, then I _suppose_I'll be a gentleman and at least keep you company while you're color-coding your notes."

"Fine. Though I happen to like color-coding."

"Really, now?"

"Yeah, really, but I suppose it's alright if you come." Julia dug her fingernails into her palm. Was she _flirting_? What even was this concept of flirting, and why was she doing so?

Either way, it felt playful, and she felt coy, and she decided she kind of liked it. Even if it made her sound like a total girl.

"Excellent. So after dinner, in the library?" James grinned.

"As long as you don't mind that I'm going to bring all my notes with me."

He shrugged and winked at her. "It's a date," he said.

"A study session," she corrected, but smiled anyway. "See you around."

She turned to resume her path to the Ravenclaw table when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "For the record," came a low whisper in her ear, "I rather like the whole hand-holding thing."

He was already meeting up with his friends at the Gryffindor table when she finally processed what he'd said and started up her uncontrollable blushing again.

As soon as she wasn't in the spotlight of the Great Hall anymore, her two best Ravenclaw friends, Madeleine Finnigan and Christina Fletcher, immediately hopped out of their seats.

"Who was - what - why - James Potter!" they spluttered out.

Julia laughed as she took her seat at the table, her two friends following suit. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" Christina repeated. "Julia Montague, I won't calm down until I know _every single detail_. So spill."

"Spill what?" she asked innocently, taking a sandwich from a large platter.

"James Potter!" Madeleine said a little too loudly for her comfort. "Did you meet him just now? What was that whole talk? Why was his mouth right next to your ear?"

"And why the hell are you blushing so much?" Christina demanded.

As Julia tried to fend off her curious friends (nothing compared to the persistence of two knowledge-craving girls), she couldn't help but contemplate Christina's question in depth.

Because honestly? What she would give to know the answer.

* * *

**James's POV**

After he'd met Julia Montague in the library, James found himself wanting to know more about the younger Ravenclaw. And James had ways of finding out what he wanted to know. This time, his particular way of discovering more about Julia was through Albus.

That very evening, he approached Albus in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Hey, lil' brother," James said, slinging an arm over his brother's shoulder.

Albus wormed his way out of his grasp, grimacing and turning red when James reached out to ruffle his hair. "What do you want?"

"Rude," James commented, grinning at Scorpius Malfoy and Ashlyn Wood, who were both smirking at Albus's obvious discomfort. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask you a little something. You mind…?" He trailed off, motioning to the empty side of the Common Room.

Albus sighed and told Scorpius and Ashlyn, "Be right back."

"That's my brother," James said, clapping Albus on the back.

"Yeah, yeah," Albus muttered as the two walked over to the other side of the room. "So," he said, "what is it?"

"Okay. This is purely out of curiosity, alright? I just want to know."

"Okay."

"It's nothing serious. I was just wondering."

"Get on with it."

"Okay, okay!" James ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Do you know anyone in your year named Julia?"

Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise. That had not been what he was expecting. "Er…Julia Montague."

The immediate recognition James exhibited upon hearing the name caused Albus to blink and say, "Er. Do you know her?"

James waved his hand, ignoring the tension in his shoulders. "Briefly met. She's a Ravenclaw?"

"Yes," Albus said suspiciously.

"Dark hair? Brown eyes?"

"Dark hair, yes. And I don't know about her eye colour. I don't pay attention to these things!"

"Tut, tut," James admonished. "You should. This type of information can be very useful in some pranks."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you're the prankster, James. But why are you so interested in Julia anyway?"

"No reason," James shrugged, but then extended the depth of his questioning. "Do you see her often?"

"Well, we had a class with the Ravenclaws today. Every Thursdays before lunch. Charms," he added when James opened his mouth.

James gave his little brother a dazzling smile. "Perfect," he said with a snap, then reached out to ruffle Albus's hair. "Thanks, Al."

"No problem. Just what are you planning, though?"

"What do you mean?" James asked in surprise.

Albus furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, you've got to be planning something. You never ask for information unless you're going to use it."

James was going to use it, alright. He was going to use it by filing it away in his mental profile of Julia Montague, because James was kind of, sort of very interested in getting to know her, and for that to happen, he would need to interact with the Ravenclaw.

But telling Albus that would probably not go so well, so James settled for grinning and saying, "A prankster never tells all his secrets."

* * *

James was anxious.

His fingers soundlessly tapped on the wooden table. Sure, he was in Herbology, where his favorite professor, Professor Longbottom, was currently talking about some snapping plants from Bulgaria that could mimic human sounds, but for some reason, he couldn't focus.

Although that might have had something to do with the fact that Alison Fletcher was relentlessly batting her eyelashes at him.

And maybe had a little, teeny tiny bit to do with the fact that it was Thursday.

James heard a slight snicker from his left, and turned to glare at his friend Marcus Jordan, who was rapidly flicking his eyes from Alison to James.

"Shut up," he said sideways, through his gritted teeth.

Marcus nudged him and replied, "I think you ought to go with her to the next Hogsmeade."

"I'd rather lose a Quidditch game," James muttered. "Actually, scratch that. I wouldn't."

"See?" Marcus, who was Gryffindor's other Beater and understood James's undying love for Quidditch, said triumphantly. "Besides, it isn't like there's any other girl you're interested in at the moment."

James's fingers froze mid-tap and a shiver ran through him. "True," he said calmly, quickly resuming his taps and stared up at Professor Longbottom, who was discussing the biology of the snapping plant.

Apparently, his recovery was not as speedy as he'd hoped, because when he glanced at Marcus, his friend wore a devilish smile that gave the unspeakable hint he was completely aware that James was lying.

"What?" James questioned innocently.

Marcus sidled up closer to him and whispered seductively in his ear, "So who's the lucky lady?"

"No one." James pushed his friend away in playful disgust.

"What House is she in?"

James involuntarily glanced over at a group of Ravenclaws at the front of the greenhouse. The blue in their ties seemed to complement their surroundings.

Unfortunately, Marcus was one who was perceptive (which was a good trait to have when they were on their pranking sprees and on the Quidditch field, but that was about it), and his dark eyes followed James's to rest on the Ravenclaws.

"Aha! Ravenclaw!" This loud remark from Marcus caused Professor Longbottom to stop mid-sentence and the entire class to glance at the two.

"Yes, you're currently in my class along with your classmates from Ravenclaw." Neville Longbottom's eyes sparkled kindly down at them. "Now, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Potter, now that we've established that, would either of you care to explain how the mimicking of noises work for these plants?"

James grinned cheekily, glad that for the halt in his conversation with Marcus. "I would, Professor, but I don't know the answer."

"Mhm. And do you, Mr. Jordan?"

"No, sir," Marcus said meekly.

"Then I advise both of you pay attention, yes?" Their professor smiled. "Or if you'd prefer, I could place one of the plants in front of you and have them repeat everything you're conspiring back there."

The entire class, including the two troublemakers, chuckled, and a few girlish whispers of "He's so cool!" swept across the room.

"Why thank you, Ms. Hendry," Neville said, grinning, "but alright, back to the plants!"

For the rest of the class, James honestly did try to pay attention, but it was slightly hard to, since he could see Marcus mentally taking note of every Ravenclaw girl in the room while glancing at James every so often - probably to compare their personalities to his.

Fortunately for James, the Ravenclaw he had in mind wasn't exactly in the room at the moment.

* * *

As soon as class was dismissed, James and Marcus headed to the Great Hall for lunch. As they entered the castle, James spotted a head of red hair against a wall.

"Rose! My favourite cousin!" James exclaimed as he darted around a group of first-years heading into the Great Hall.

Rose glanced at him unenthusiastically. "Hi, James." She smiled at a space behind him. "Hi, Marcus."

"What's up, Ginger?" Marcus asked, giving Rose a high-five.

She shrugged, leaning against the stone wall. "Waiting for Scorpius. He and Albus said they were going to meet me here. Don't call me that, by the way," she added severely.

"Aww, you and your boyfriend are just so cute," James cooed, reaching out to pinch Rose's cheeks. She slapped his hand away.

"Star-crossed lovers! Gryffindor and Slytherin!" Marcus called out, turning a few heads.

Rose glared at him. "Oh, shush! It's happened at least five times in the past years I've been here."

Marcus grinned. "Whatever you say, Ginger." He spun to face James. "You going in?"

James waved him ahead. "Nah. I'll accompany Rose until Al and Scorp come." And possibly Julia. Possibly Julia. Didn't Albus say they had Charms together

right before lunch?

As his friend darted into the Great Hall, James sidled up to Rose.

"Hey, Rosie," he said sweetly.

"Stop it," she replied.

"Fine." Not five seconds later, James morphed his facial expression and said, "How doth my lady do?"

Rose raised her eyebrow. "You're so weird," she muttered, shaking her head.

James put on a devilish grin. "I can be weirder." He knelt down on one knee and declared loudly, "Rose! Oh, my sweet Rose!"

She flicked her eyes at him and said monotonously, "Shut up, James."

James got up and opened his mouth in indignation, but before he could speak, Rose broke into a relieved smile and said, "Julia!" She rushed past him.

His heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name, and he shushed the voices in his head screaming for him to do something.

"Rose," he heard Julia say. He turned around just in time to see her brown eyes dart away from his face, and had to conceal a grin.

Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't focus on the exchange between Julia and Rose, instead, focusing on controlling the urge to immediately delve into a conversation with Julia. Patience was key.

When he did not think he could stand still any longer, James surged forward.

"-staying here with me until they come?" Rose was asking. "My cousin-"

Without thinking, James reached out to touch Julia's arm. It sent a spark up his own arm to his shoulders to his legs, and froze him on the spot. And then she was flinching away, and he brought his senses back to life.

"Julia!" he boomed with a smile on his face, though he was slightly discouraged by her sidling away from him. "Nice to see you again!" He flashed what he hoped was a winning smile.

Unfortunately, she did not seem to notice it. "Yeah. Nice," she replied, barely looking at him. James's mood sank a little more. She did not sound very interested in him or his presence.

Rose gaped. "You know each other? I'm sorry you've ever met him, Julia. Just know all of us Weasleys and Potters aren't as bad as he is." She shook her head, but sent a small grin to James to show she was joking.

"Hey, now," James said. "Don't be mean." He took a deep breath. "Julia and I are buds, right?" He was rather proud of the fact that, at least as far as he knew, he did not sound anywhere near as nervous as he felt.

Julia's cheeks tinged pink, and it was all that James could to do avoid smiling in triumph. "Er," she said shyly, in neither an affirmative or negative way.

James took a risk and nudged her with his arm. He wasn't sure why he was so aware of everything he was doing and saying to the fifth-year. "You know, we had that talk in the library?" he prompted. "Remember? And you were - what were you doing - studying for O.W.L.'s?"

"I remember," she said hotly, finally meeting his eyes. "But that doesn't mean we're automatically friends."

Encouraged by her eyes on him, James gave her his best wink. "Oh, but it does. Anything to do with me automatically means we're friends. I'm just that friendly!"

He was slightly crushed when she didn't continue the banter, instead, raising her eyebrows at him. He took an awkward breath, turning to Rose. His cousin was watching him carefully, but when she saw him looking at her, she immediately said, "Yeah, yeah, now stop bothering us."

He almost did, because his nerves were starting to get the better of him, but James decided this was too good of an opportunity to get closer to Julia to let go of.

Taking another deep breath (Merlin, this girl was just taking the breath out of him, wasn't she?), he said winningly, "So how are you, Julia?" He wanted to start simple. Even though he wasn't normally for formalities, maybe she was into that type of stuff.

"Good," she replied. "You?" This was a nice sign. She was responding.

"Excellent." Say something else, you dolt. But for once, James was a total loss for words.

Luckily, Julia chose that moment to glance at Rose. James followed her eyes until he settled on his cousin, who, this time, did not cloak the suspicious look on her face.

"What?" he asked defensively.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him, and he was sure that he'd been caught trying to be subtle. "You're being too nice."

James closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he tried every possible way to tell her to shush. This was not leaving a good second impression on Julia. "Excuse me?" he managed to say.

His cousin ignored his silent pleads. "You're never this cordial," she continued, "and you're being polite."

James gave the tiniest, nearly imperceptible nod towards Julia and watched as Rose flicked her eyes between him and her friend.

Realizing that she'd just insulted him, James opened his mouth to retort, but was promptly cut off by Scorpius Malfoy's voice.

"Rose!" the Gryffindor called out. "Hey, Rose!"

James, Julia, and Rose all turned to see Albus and Scorpius rushing down to meet them. There was a box in Scorpius's hands, and James smirked. The Malfoy was rather a nice match for his cousin. He knew how to handle her, in any case.

He abandoned his spot next to Julia to greet his brother and Scorpius. "Ah, Scorp," he said with a genuine smile, "What've you gotten there?" He gestured towards the box with a suggestive wink.

"Just a little something," Scorpius said. There was a shy, slightly dreamy smile on his face as he approached Rose. A quick glance at Rose was more than enough to confirm that the two fifteen-year-olds were most certainly in love.

"You've got to stop doing this," his cousin said. She took the lid off the box and gasped. James peered over. "Chocolate-covered strawberries!" Rose said.

"Thanks, Scorpius, you're the best."

The Malfoy was engulfed by Rose's arms in a hug. She didn't see Scorpius wave at James, Albus, and Julia to go into the Great Hall. "Private moment," he was mouthing.

James snorted, thinking to himself that it was extraordinary how evidently fitting Rose and Scorpius were.

Perhaps that was why Draco Malfoy hadn't completely blown up at his son when he started dating a Weasley. The daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, no less.

Out of the corner of his eye, James spotted Julia gesturing that they should enter the Great Hall. He was about to oblige when he paused, an emotion that he could not comprehend washing over him. He recognized it as the same one he felt every time his mum got angry at him or his siblings.

James froze. Fear. What did he have to fear? He panicked, immediately coming up with the answer. But why? Why would he fear a petite girl with big, innocent eyes and dark, silky hair - what did he have to fear from Julia Montague?

He shifted uncomfortably and was on the verge of spinning around to face his fear when quite suddenly, he found himself holding his fear's hand.

The first thing he noticed was the size of her hand - it was only about two-thirds of his hand, and he was certain that each of her fingers were an inch shorter than his. It was also warm. Her hand was warm and comforting and James was reminded of a fire burning in the night.

Or maybe the fire was burning his ears, because he could literally feel the heat from his ears on his cheeks.

James's eyes made their way to Julia, who looked just as surprised as he felt. She was blushing lightly, which he found to be rather charming. Her dark brown eyes held a depth to them that riveted his attention.

He sent a quick glance down at their hands, briefly marveling at the fact that they fit together extraordinarily well, like Scorpius and Rose fit together, except better.

And then the moment, which couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, ended when Julia promptly released his hand and scampered back. Half-amused and the other half of him still ensnared in the image of her dark eyes, James watched as Julia completely panicked.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she rambled, her face bright red. As she backed away towards where Albus was standing (and watching the entire scene, as were Scorpius and Rose), part of James wanted to come up with some witty comment to smooth the awkwardness, another part suppressed a smile at Julia's flustered outburst, and yet another part of him just wanted to reach out and grab her hand again because it had felt so nice.

"Sorry. Sorry," Julia was repeating. If it was possible, she turned an even darker shade of red. "I'm just…I'm just going to go into the Great Hall now," she stuttered before turning towards the Great Hall entrance. Her dark hair flew over her shoulder on its own accord and James could see every tense muscle in Julia's neck and shoulders.

After she walked into the Great Hall, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius immediately whipped around to stare at James.

"What?" James asked defensively.

"What was that?" Albus asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, mate, you two were ogling each other like-"

"Shut up, Scor," James said loudly. He added, "You and Rose aren't much better."

Scorpius grinned, tightening his arm around Rose's shoulder. "Fair point."

"Really, though," Rose said. "What was that?"

James fought to keep his heart steady. He hadn't even noticed how quickly it was beating until Julia left the entrance hall. "I'm not quite sure," he said truthfully.

Apparently it wasn't actually a question because Rose continued, "It was like you two were in your own little world. I could practically see the fireworks above you."

For some reason, these words sent him up in a flurry of panic, and James quickly said, "Don't think too hard about it, Rosie. But in the mean time, I'm hungry and I think I'm going to scram. Have fun, kids!" He dashed off towards the Great Hall doors before the three fifth-years could process his words. He slipped through the doors just as Albus called out, "We're only a year younger!"

As he entered the dining hall, a huge wave of student conversations washed over James. His eyes involuntarily darted towards the Ravenclaw table, and on the way, he spotted her making her way to the table.

He replayed Rose's words in his mind: "I could practically see the fireworks above you," she'd said. "Me too," James murmured quietly. A tiny smile crept onto his face. "Me too."

It was perhaps this confession to himself that made James call out, "Hey, Julia!"

As soon as she turned around to face him, her cheeks still pink, he regretted calling her name because his own face began to flush, and he had to wipe his hands on his robes for all they were sweating. He was pretty sure that his face was scrunched up in anticipation, and found it immensely relieving that she also looked a bit nervous.

James bravely put on a smirk, and the only reason why he was able to do so was because he was so familiar with how to shape his mouth and didn't need to think about it. "That was exciting," he blurted out as he stopped in front of her.

Julia hesitantly smiled. "Sorry," she said again, her voice high-pitched.

"It's not a problem," he said. "Anyway… I was just thinking of something else." He'd just thought of it, actually, but this made him sound as if he hadn't been going crazily out of his mind for the past two minutes.

He took a deep breath, nervously watching for her reaction. "For some reason," he started, "I find being in your company rather enlightening." Merlin. 'Enlightening'. Couldn't he have picked a better word? "Let's meet up sometime later today."

The last sentence popped out of his mouth without his approval and James could only rewind and hear the echo of his words in horror as he realized what a spontaneous offer he'd just given. And, he realized with growing anticipation, he'd stated it in a way that practically forced her to say yes.

Julia cleared her throat. "Er… Oh. Yeah. Sure! How about after dinner? In the library?"

He really hoped she didn't hear him let out a breath of pure relief. "Sounds good, since I've got Quidditch practice after classes, anyway," he said, already feeling much lighter and more comfortable. He joked, "As long as you don't have to study for O.W.L.s or anything."

"Oh, yeah!" Julia said with a bounce. "I completely forgot!" She leaned in seriously and James was suddenly met with the scent of vanilla. "I've got this schedule, and today happens to be the day that I've got to color-code my notes!"

His mouth dropped open in horror. Not only was this girl willing to stay in to study on a perfectly nice day, but she was also more than happy to color-code her notes. That was it. Aunt Hermione would love her.

"I was kidding," James said slowly, "but you're not, are you?" He suppressed a grin.

"Not quite." Julia's eyes sparkled mischievously, and James could almost feel himself gravitating towards her and her gorgeous eyes.

Exaggerating his movements, he rolled his eyes. "Well, then I suppose I'll be a gentleman and at least keep you company while you're color-coding your notes." The flirt was creeping into his voice and into his stance and he found himself smiling freely.

Julia sighed. "Fine, though I happen to like color-coding."

"Really, now?"

She grinned up at him and he realized how much taller than her she was. She only came up to about his chin. "Yeah, really, but I suppose it's alright if you come." James was certain that the tone in her voice was flirty.

With what he was sure was an arrogant smile, James said, "Excellent. So after dinner, in the library?"

She nodded. "As long as you don't mind that I'm going to bring all my notes with me."

"It's a date," he replied with a steady wink. It gave him pleasure to watch her blush, knowing it was his actions that made her do so.

Julia shook her head. "A study session," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "See you around!" With that, she spun around, but James must have had a rush of hormones or a rush of something, because his hand darted out and tapped Julia's delicate shoulder.

Before she could turn back, James lowered himself to her ear, saying quietly, "For the record, I rather like the whole hand-holding thing." He heard her breathing quicken for a moment, but didn't want to linger any longer, lest she turn around and see how quickly he was breathing.

As he sauntered towards the Gryffindor table, in a much better mood than he had been before, not to say that he'd been in a bad mood, it crossed the deep, dark, very-hidden part of James's mind that he was completely and utterly smitten with Julia Montague.

Unfortunately, it was far too hidden for him to realize that until it was a little too late.

* * *

******Hope you liked that! :) If you've some time, please tell me how this double POV thing is going - I'm worried it might be a little too repetitive.**


	3. Quidditch

**Hey, everyone :) Thanks again for everyone who participated in the poll - both chapter 1 and 2 of James's POV has been added in the second half of those chapters, so check them out :)**

**This chapter is a little different with the POV stuff - I kind of shifted everything a few things around, so it'll go from James to Julia to James again. I don't know, I thought it would fit better this way.**

**Enjoy :) **

* * *

**James's POV**

Upon sauntering into the Gryffindor Common Room after his date with Julia, James noticed there was an exceptionally large amount of people staring at him.

"I know I'm attractive, but is there any other reason why you're all looking at me?" James asked as he swung over to the boys' staircase with a loose grin on his face.

A few girls blushed and returned to doing whatever they were doing, but Marcus and Harold McKinnon immediately bounced over to where James was walking up the steps, humming.

"So," Marcus leaned in and whispered in James's right ear.

"How was the date?" Harold drawled into James's other ear.

James merrily swung both of his hands back, effectively hitting both of his friends in their faces.

"Excellent," he declared as Harold and Marcus muttered strings of unflattering curses at him. "Language!" he admonished with a wagging of his finger.

"Because you've always cared about cursing," Marcus said sarcastically.

"What has this girl done to you?" Harold agreed as James put his hand on the sixth-year boys dorm door knob.

"Her name's-" James began with an unfocused, dreamy smile, as he, forgetting to open it, slammed into the wooden door of their room.

"-Julia," the two completed in unison.

Marcus snickered as James quickly righted himself and opened the door.

"We did some research on her," Harold shrugged as he flung himself on his bed.

James sat on the edge of his bed. "You did what?"

"Research."

"We couldn't stand not knowing," Marcus explained, leaning against his bedpost. "Especially since you wouldn't tell us why you'd whispered in her ear in the Great Hall earlier. Merlin, that tension between you two-"

"Alright, alright!" James said loudly. "So you stalked her?" He was rather interested in finding out what they had discovered.

"Researched," Harold corrected. "We just asked a few fellow Ravenclaws."

"And we found out that Miss Julia Montague is one of the top three in her class with a particular knack for Charms and Potions, sometimes tutors her housemates if they need help, is extremely modest and kind, according to many Ravenclaws, and is an extreme fan of butterbeer."

James mentally kept note of all of this, especially the detail about butterbeer. "How did you get all of this? From whom?"

"Oh, from people who owe us stuff," Marcus said vaguely.

"That's just stalkerish," James said, shaking his head. He ignored the fact that he was desperately curious to find out more about her and was thankful for the knowledge that his friends had just given him.

"Pranksterish. And we're just fishing out information about your girl," Marcus argued.

"She's not my girl," James protested, blushing.

"Aww, James-y is blushing," Harold cooed, pinching James's cheeks. "And even if she's not, she will be at the rate you're going at."

"What rate?"

"Are you kidding?" Marcus asked, shaking his head. "You walked in here looking like you were high on firewhiskey or something."

"Did not," James argued.

"Did too. That's why everyone was looking at you, because every other time you walk in like that, you've just managed to prank someone important, or something. We all thought you might've lost us some House points, but then Marcus and I realized that all you lost was your heart." Harold finished with a dramatic gesture.

"Idiots." James threw a pillow in Harold's direction.

Harold nimbly caught it, then threw it back. But instead of hitting James, it lobbed over and smacked into Marcus's face.

And before the three boys knew it, they were in the midst of a pillow fight, their cackles of delight echoing down into the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

**Julia's POV**

Across the entire Hogwarts grounds, Julia's light was the only one shining in the Ravenclaw tower. It penetrated the darkness, illuminating the entire fifth-year girls' dormitory, whose inhabitants were rolling around in bed, none of them daring or wanting to disturb their kind, sweet roommate in her prime time.

With the exception of Christina.

"Hey, Jules? I know you're all lovestruck after your date with James, but could you turn off the light?"

Julia sat on her bed, absentmindedly stroking her Pygmy Puff, Daphne. "Hmm?" she said distractedly.

"Turn. Off. The light, please." Christina propped herself up and faced Julia, shaking her head. "You've got it bad for that boy."

Julia's dark eyes swam into focus and she shot her friend a glare. "Of course I don't. I've just met him!"

"Love at first sight, darling" was Christina's reply. "You can dream about him all you want, once you turn off the light."

Julia waved her wand towards the light and it shut off, plunging the room in darkness.

There was a general sigh of relief that swept through the girls.

"Thanks," whispered Lyra Boot from across the room.

"Finally," Christina muttered, but as she flopped back onto her pillow, she stated, "If your date was anything like what I saw, I'd say you two are completely smitten with each other. He was practically undressing you with his eyes."

"Christina!" Julia said in horror, blushing furiously. "He was _not_. And it wasn't a date, it was a study session!"

"That's what they all say," her friend replied with a snicker. "'Night. Don't stay up too late thinking about him."

"Good night," Julia said firmly, turning her attention back to her Pygmy Puff with a slight smile on her face.

Unfortunately, Christina _had_ walked in on a rather awkwardly intimate part of their study session. But honestly, prior to that had only been banter, and James had actually helped her organize her notes.

It had just so happened that right when Christina and Madeleine popped in to check up on her, Julia had accidentally knocked down a small stack of her Transfiguration notes. As she was bending down to pick them up, James was doing the same, and of course, their hands had met as they were grabbing the papers.

And like the other time outside the Great Hall, time did not align with either of them, and they'd held hands for maybe ten entire seconds before Julia realized exactly what they were doing and thrown his hand back at him.

"Ah! Sorry! I keep doing that!" she'd squealed, her face matching James's Gryffindor tie.

"Don't worry. I like it. I think it's cute," James had said with a deep laugh that made her everything tingle.

These words must have had a locking effect on her brain, because she completely blanked out and had only stammered out another apology before spotting her friends watching from the side and realizing that they'd just witnessed the entire scene.

James had been very nonchalant about the whole hand-holding thing, and joked around with Christina and Madeleine before they'd noticed Julia silently hyperventilating to the side and rushed to pack up her notes and wave goodbye to James.

"Wait!" he had called with a confused expression on his face. "Er… you'll watch the Quidditch game on Saturday, right, Julia? Even though you're not a big fan of Quidditch?"

She'd nodded, more to avoid him seeing how mortified she was than anything else.

"Great. See you there!" He put on a dazzling smile that made her swoon - since when did she swoon? - and had to be dragged away by Madeleine before she stared any longer.

And of course, Christina and Madeleine had immediately pulled her into an empty classroom, sat her down, and demanded that she tell them every single detail.

Julia's cheeks flared red for about the millionth time that day at the mere thought of James and his hazel-green eyes and his messy dark hair and his warm, comforting hands. She clutched her Pygmy Puff, who let out a small squeal. How did girls _deal_ with this? Did James Potter have this effect on all the sixth-year girls, or was it just her that felt this… bubbly, terrifying, wonderful thrill every time she thought about him?

She sighed, slipping under her covers, and fell asleep only to be revisited by James in her dreams.

* * *

"Remind me again why we're sitting in the Gryffindor stands."

"We're supporting them."

"So's the rest of Ravenclaw."

"Let me be more specific; we're supporting your man."

"He is _not_ my man! And that doesn't mean we should be sitting in these stands."

"Of course it does! It shows support!"

"Except there's just one little problem," Julia said sarcastically to her friends. "We're not Gryffindors."

Julia had woken up that morning ready to watch the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch game, steeling herself for the half-hour (if she was lucky) of what she was certain she would not and could not possibly find more than vaguely interesting. She hadn't wanted to bring a book, because it would seem rude if James glanced over at her, but now, sitting in the Gryffindor stands, she wished she had so that he would not see her face among the people from his house.

Her friends were crazy.

Julia felt a tap on her shoulder and whipped around to see Albus smiling at her.

"Hi Julia. Hi Madeleine, Christina," he nodded. "What are you three doing here?"

"Madeleine and Christina here," Julia said with a glare towards them, "wanted to sit in the Gryffindor stands to support your team. Even though we're not Gryffindors," she said pointedly.

Albus grinned. "By all means, stick around!" he said, plopping down next to her. "Lily, Scorpius, and Ashlyn are playing, anyway."

"What are they, again?" Julia asked. "Scorpius is a Chaser, right?"

He nodded. "Lily's a Seeker, and Ashlyn's a Keeper, like her dad was. And of course, James is playing."

There they were again. The butterflies in her stomach at his name. She mustered up a smile. "He's a Beater, right?" She was already aware of the answer.

"You would know," Christina coughed from behind her. Julia's hand lashed out to punch her friend in the arm.

Albus amusedly watched them and said, "Oh, yes. James was telling me at dinner about how you two were going to have some date in the library?"

"It wasn't a date!" Julia said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up.

"Hm," Albus murmured. "Either way, you two stayed out pretty late." She didn't like the twinkle in his eye. It was far too mischievous.

She protested, "It wasn't all that late. Right?" She turned to her friends.

Julia's mouth dropped open as Christina said slowly, "Well, it was almost curfew."

Madeleine nodded, the lines of a smile steadily being suppressed. "You spent maybe three hours in the library together."

"We were studying!" Julia exclaimed, spots of red arising on her face.

"Whatever you say," Christina sang, and Madeleine gave her a saucy wink.

"Merlin," Julia muttered to Albus.

"My brother did seem extraordinarily happy when he came back, though," Albus said nonchalantly.

Julia's heart stopped at these words but before she could question him about just _how_ happyJames had been, Madam Hooch's voice rang over the field, announcing the arrival of the teams.

The entire game lasted for only twenty minutes, and for the first ten of those twenty minutes, Julia found herself enjoying it far more than she thought she would.

Several times, she caught James hopefully glancing over at the Ravenclaw stands. Though it brought her a thrill each time he did so, she wanted nothing more than to shout his name so that he could turn and see that she'd held her promise and come. She didn't, but was still one of the loudest cheering when he successfully hit a Bludger and knocked the Quaffle out of its passage to the Slytherin Chasers.

Towards the second half of the game, Julia couldn't help but notice that some the Slytherin players were rather half-hearted.

And judging from the whispers around her, so did the rest of the Gryffindors.

Through the players clad in green, she sought out her Chaser friend, Lydia Zabini. Lydia was incredibly into Quidditch (nearly as much as James) and was always motivated to play.

But now, Lydia was sitting atop her broom, her eyes unfocused and she flew around at half the pace she normally did. Julia's eyes scoured the field as she came to the solid conclusion that many of her family friends' sons and daughters were barely into the game.

Her heart froze mid-beat, and Julia instantly stood up, sweat beads forming on her forehead, though her hands were ice-cold.

"I've… I've got to go," she murmured to her friends. Before they could protest, she was flying down the box steps until she reached the ground, leaning against a wooden pole to keep herself upright.

What was going on? There was only one explanation for the Slytherins' lacking performance, but that couldn't be it - she would have heard something by now! Her father… he'd have told her, wouldn't he?

She bit her lip. Would he tell her? Once, she might have been certain that he would. But now… now that her mother was gone…

The last five minutes of the game was nearly more than she could bear. Julia stood under the Gryffindor box, barely processing what others heard as amusing commentary as a slow, painful way of prolonging the suspense.

And then finally, _finally_ there was a colossal cheer from both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw stands, and Julia had been to enough Quidditch games to know that the Gryffindors had caught the Snitch and won.

She ran along the sides of the boxes to where the teams would be exiting the field. She thought she heard someone calling her name a few times, but she couldn't stop until she spotted a huddle of green and silver. Julia called out, "Lydia! Will!"

Lydia Zabini and Will Nott (she loved to tease him about his name) turned around and stopped until Julia caught up to them. As the rest of the Slytherin team passed by Julia, some of them gave her pats on the back or sad smiles, and she had the strongest inkling that they weren't doing it because of the Quidditch game.

"What's happening?" she immediately demanded the two Quidditch players (Will was a Beater).

The regretful looks they gave her made her body temperature lower even more, if that was possible. Her face was white as chalk.

"You haven't heard?" Lydia asked gently.

"Heard _what_?"

"Didn't you read the _Daily Prophet_ today? Or hasn't your father mentioned it at all…?" Will asked.

Julia involuntarily lashed out and grabbed Will's wrist. "I don't read the _Prophet_," she said panickedly. "And apparently my father does not tell me anything anymore, because I have no idea what you're talking about. What, what's going on?"

"You haven't heard of the trial?" Lydia said slowly.

Trial. The word almost made her slip to the ground, but instead, Julia gripped Will's wrist even tighter. "What trial?" Her voice was barely a whisper, and she was surprised that she could even make a sound for all the thoughts whirring in her mind.

She hung on to Will's every word as he cleared his throat and softly said, "They wanted to re-evaluate the Outer Circle again. Just in case they missed anyone who might have been in the Inner Circle."

"Why?" Julia's voice cracked as she fought to keep her composure.

"I don't know," Lydia said with a bitter laugh. "They want to remind the world, I guess, that they've got everything under control, which is good for _them_ and everyone else, but we've got to pay the price, since most of the Inner Circle aren't around to pay it."

"That's unfair," Julia said hotly. "It's not fair that our parents have to face the trial again." She always thought that she didn't like her father for his strict rules and upbringing. But now… she couldn't bear to think about him sitting in a room waiting for his entire character to be evaluated.

"But they're still not sure if they're going to do it," Will rushed to say. "Mostly because Harry Potter is firmly against it, and they can't very well go brushing him and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger off - they're the war heroes. There's still a chance the trial won't happen."

The silence between the three of them was overwhelming. Julia stared blankly in the distance. Her father. She wondered why he hadn't told her. Did he think she wouldn't care?

Lydia broke the heavy silence. "We can just hope, I guess," she said with a sigh. "Hope that Harry Potter can change their minds, or that running that article in the newspaper will help our side more than it does theirs."

Julia nodded numbly, barely registering when Lydia and Will commented that they should get changed until Will gently pulled his wrist out of her grasp. There was a raw, red band where her hand had gripped his wrist.

"Sorry," she said, but Will shook his head.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. It'll be okay, you know? Our parents weren't in the Inner Circle - they'll be fine."

She put on a brave smile. "Thanks," she whispered.

Julia reached out and hugged Lydia then Will, kissing both of their cheeks in Pureblood tradition. She waved to them before turning back around to where the majority of people still stood on the field.

She was incredibly thankful for Will's words, because they were true. None of their parents had been in the Inner Circle, so even if the trial took place, it wouldn't really affect them.

Trying to keep this in mind, Julia walked towards the field. But calming her emotions down was easier said than done. Each of her steps seemed heavier than the last, until quite suddenly, she found that she could not hold it back anymore, and her pace quickened to a jog, then to a run, and she didn't know where she was running to and did not care, as long as she was running away from this terrible, terrible news that ripped her heart into shreds and ruthlessly stomped on the broken pieces.

And then she collided with an arm that coiled around her waist, the red and gold fabric covering it smooth beneath her fingers.

She looked up to see James Potter's gorgeous hazel eyes staring down at her face in mild surprise. And… and… Was that disappointment on his face that she saw?

She broke their eye contact by looking down at where her left side was pressed up against James.

He immediately released her and took two steps back. "Sorry," he said, and his voice held a coldness that felt so unfamiliar coming from him.

"It's okay," she rushed to say, wondering if she was imagining the hard expression on his face.

She wasn't, she realized with growing confusion. He turned around without another word and started towards the group of the Gryffindor team, whose members were mingling with other Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Slytherins, and Ravenclaws congratulating them on their game.

"W-Wait!" she called out.

James paused but did not face her.

"Er… congratulations on your win."

"Thanks," he said shortly. "Though I suppose you might be upset about Slytherin losing."

Julia's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I guess. I'm not upset, though. I just cheer for both sides. I'd be equally happy if Slytherin won, and equally sad if Gryffindor lost. I mean," she said, her words quickening in speed, "I don't really know. I don't choose either team to cheer for. You know what I mean?"

_She_ wasn't sure what she meant, but the cold way he was looking at her distracted her thoughts and she couldn't clearly articulate anything.

"Tell that to your Beater friend, hm?"

"Er…" Julia panicked, not having the slightest clue of what he was talking about. Wasn't James a Beater? Was she missing something here? "Er… I just did?"

She spotted the crack of a grin, which immensely relieved her before it washed away and was replaced with a scowl. Her heart plummeted right back to the ground. "I actually meant your Slytherin… friend." He said the last word delicately.

"My Slytherin friend…?" She attempted to raise an eyebrow, trying to mask the growing emotion she felt at the mention of the House. It reminded her of the trial.

James scoffed and looked at the ground. "The Beater. What's his name? Nott?"

"Will?" Julia asked, truly befuddled now. "What about him?"

"Never mind," James retorted, spinning back towards his team. "It doesn't matter."

"Wait, what? Tell me," Julia said, surging forward after him, but the gears in her brain were already whirring and, as if like a Muggle slot machine, it stopped on her talk with Will and Lydia.

"Oh, no," she blurted out, stopping in her tracks. "No, Will - no, no, no, there's nothing going on between us. No, Will and Lydia, they were just telling me something."

What had he seen? Had he seen her holding his wrist? Hugging him? But she'd hugged Lydia as well. And why did he care so much about a simple hug?

James turned back again. "It didn't look like it was just that." There was disappointment. His voice was rich with disappointment and hurt.

Julia's heart stopped as she replayed the scene in her mind. The kiss on the cheek. Of course that would throw him off. "It wasn't anything. I swear it wasn't anything. It wasn't on the lips, it was on the cheek! It's - it's _tradition_," she said desperately. She didn't know why she didn't want to tell him of her blood status until…

Until it occurred to her that she didn't want to tell him about the trial. Not when his father was Harry Potter. Merlin, that would make her seem so much… less, if he knew that his dad was the person who was helping her family most.

"I should have known not to have…" James trailed off and shook his head. "You didn't even come to see the match."

"What?" Julia asked. "Of course I did!"

"You weren't in the Ravenclaw stands," he stated. "And right after the game, you were already with the Slytherin team players. You were probably waiting for them so you could reunite with them." There was a nearly imperceptible pause between his last two words that Julia caught.

"I wasn't in the Ravenclaw stands because I was in the Gryffindor ones!" Julia exclaimed. "And true, I was waiting for the game to finish outside the stands, but for a completely different reason than what I think you're thinking!"

"For what, then?" James asked quietly.

Julia hesitated. She wasn't sure why it was so hard. Trial. One word. Trial. "I needed them to tell me something," she offered lamely. It sounded like a lie, and she knew it.

James continued walking, and it wasn't until he was maybe twenty feet away that she spoke.

"There might be another trial," she said softly. "For people who were in Voldemort's Outer Circle. My father, Graham Montague, he's going to be in it if the trial happens. That's what Will and Lydia were telling me."

She wasn't sure if James heard her or not, but didn't stick around to find out. She hated seeing people's faces when they realized that she was a former Death Eater's daughter, since her last name wasn't an obvious pureblood one like "Malfoy" or "Parkinson" was.

She hated the feeling of insecurity around the people she told, because people never again saw her in the same light - they'd look at her and see a Death Eater's offspring.

And to see James's face threaded with either pity or disgust (she wasn't sure which was worse) would be heartbreaking either way, so she didn't turn around, didn't peek over her shoulder, and didn't let herself wonder if he'd heard her or if he cared.

Julia walked about ten yards before realizing that she was heading in the wrong direction. The Ravenclaw Tower, she realized, was the other way.

"Stupid of me," she muttered, flushing. Not wanting to turn back, she continued walking straight forward before deciding to take a trip to the Owlery. Thankfully, at least that was in the general direction she was heading in.

The entire walk to the Owlery was occupied by an odd mixture of what Lydia and Will had said, and James. Part of her felt broken because of James's coldness towards her, guilty for walking away, angry that he was angry that she'd hugged Will and held his hand, and disappointed that their fourth true interaction happened to be a fight.

And that was only half of her.

The other half was confused about how she felt towards her father, angry that he hadn't told her, and just terrified that the trial would happen. She wanted to reach out to Harry Potter, wherever he was, and beg him to try his hardest to prevent the trial.

By the time Julia arrived at the Owlery, she was quite visibly distressed. Her usually smooth brown hair was frizzled up in the front from where she'd twirled locks around her finger. She'd bitten her tongue a few times by accident, and there were marks on her hand where she'd pinched herself hoping that she'd wake up.

Sighing, Julia immediately headed over to Cyan, her owl. In his little cubby, she fished out a spare quill and piece of parchment that she kept there for emergencies.

It took her maybe ten minutes to write the entire letter. She didn't want to scratch out anything and make it seem like she'd done it in a rush.

_Dear Father,_

_I've just been informed that there is a possibility that you_

_may be put on a trial. I really do hope that _

_this won't be the case, but please write back to me so that I know_

_you're okay._

_Julia_

Since her first year, Julia had never signed her letters to her father with "Love, Julia". It had just always seemed too intimate for their brittle relationship, and to start it up now would seem strange.

"To Dad, Cyan," Julia whispered to her barn owl as she attached the paper to his leg. Cyan gave a hoot of farewell and fluttered out the window.

She watched until he was a speck in the distance, then returned the quill to its spot.

If she was lucky, her father would reply back in a week.

As she let herself out of the Owlery, for some reason, it crossed her mind that if she and James were ever to get together, her father would certainly not approve.

And then Julia laughed at her own thoughts, because James had made it startlingly clear that he wasn't interested in her.

* * *

**James's POV**

It was a gorgeous day for Quidditch. Absolutely breathtaking. There was just enough wind to ripple the uniforms and keep the players cool, but not enough to be distracting. There was the sun, but it was peeking through clouds and would not blind anyone. It was beautiful.

"Perfect," James sighed as he stretched out his arms and yawned.

"Wonderful," Marcus agreed, mimicking James's actions.

"Close the curtains," Harold moaned from his bed. His face was still pressed up against his pillow.

"The Quidditch game starts in two hours!" James exclaimed in his excitement. "We can't close the curtains."

"Then at least get out of the room so the rest of us can wake up properly," Justin Miller murmured. His pillow was over his eyes, blocking out the light that Marcus and James had allowed into the room.

"Fine," Marcus said. "But all you lazy excuses for Gryffindors better be up and about soon!"

"You two are the ones who usually sleep until noon on weekends," Harold muttered.

James and Marcus grinned, and the former said happily, "We know!" The two sauntered out of the room, closing the door behind them just as there was a large bang from inside the dorm. A few girlish shrieks followed after, and they heard Harold scream, "Potter! Jordan!"

"Wily Whooper?" Marcus guessed as the two pranksters gave each other a high-five.

"With some extra Exploding Snap cards," James added with a grin.

"We had to wake them up somehow," Marcus said slyly.

The two met up with their Quidditch Captain and Seeker, Sophia McLaggen, in the common room.

"Ready?" Sophia asked grimly.

"But of course," Marcus said. "We're going to kick some Slytherin arse today!"

"I'm not sure about that," Sophia said as they walked out of the Tower. "They've really got great defense. Remember last time we played them?"

James waved his hand. "Yes, yes, but you've made us train like crazy these past months - I didn't think it was possibly, but I grew even more muscular! We'll be fine."

In truth, he was also worried about the Slytherin defense. Their Beaters were exceptional and had impeccable aim, while their Keeper had the eye of a hawk.

The three chatted their way down to the Great Hall, where Sophia reminded them, "Get to the changing room in an hour. And eat stuff, but not so much that you'll throw up."

"Thanks, Mum," James said with a rolling of his eyes.

Sophia slapped his arm before making her way to a spot at the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, Scorp, Ash," Marcus called as he and James approached the two fifth-years.

Ashlyn Wood scoot over and patted the spot next to her. "Ready?" she asked. Her voice betrayed none of the aggressiveness she could show as their Keeper, but she had truly inherited her father's talent.

"Ready as we'll ever be." James helped himself to some toast, munching on it.

"I do hope Rose won't be angry when we beat Slytherin," Scorpius said mildly, but there was a sparkle in his eyes as he took a bite of scrambled eggs.

James snorted. "'Angry' might be an understatement."

Their small talk was broken by the hooting of owls soaring into the Great Hall. James immediately spotted his mum's quirky eagle owl flapping towards him.

"Thanks, Colonel," James called as a letter dropped into his lap. Uncle Ron had named his mum's owl, since she'd once took the liberty of naming his "Pidwidgeon" when they were younger, and he'd wanted revenge. "It sounds cool!" was his explanation when Ginny had questioned his choice of name.

Across from him, Ashlyn received a package that contained a box of Chocolate Frogs. "They're from Dad," she said with a raised eyebrow, reading the note attached. She suddenly grinned. "For when we win our game, to celebrate."

Marcus began to reach for the chocolates, which started off bickering between the two. James glanced over at Scorpius, who was intently reading a letter of his own with a bashful smile on his face.

James looked at his letter and saw his father's messy script that wrote his name on the envelope. Cracking open the seal, he pulled out the piece of parchment and smoothed it open.

_Dear James,_

_I hope you get this before the game starts. Did you sleep well? I remember_

_back in my years, I always had nightmares before games… Either way, I'm sure_

_McLaggen's daughter has prepared you enough (I still can't believe_

_that that girl you've described is _Cormac McLaggen's _daughter). Sorry, this'll be short_

_since your mum's out of the house right now, and I've got to_

_go to the Ministry to deal with this whole ordeal with a trial that they're trying_

_to implement. But never mind that. Good luck, son,_

_and remember, "however your team does, we'll always be_

_your number one fans"! Write back when you've the chance._

_Love,_

_Dad_

James grinned. That last line was something of a tradition for his parents to say to him.

He glanced up, waiting for his friends to finish with their breakfast. More and more people were filing into the Great Hall, and James couldn't help but crane his neck to look for a certain Ravenclaw. A shiver of excitement ran through him. She'd see him play today.

He had to do his best.

* * *

"We have to do our best," Sophia said seriously. "I've seen Slytherin practicing - they've really got their tactics down."

"So do we," Ashlyn said encouragingly.

"True," the Captain admitted. "But we've still got to try our hardest to ensure we've got a win, okay?"

The entire team nodded.

"Okay." Sophia straightened up and put on a confident smile. "Let's go."

The cheers through the crowd as the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams walked out onto the field shook the Quidditch pitch with pure energy. James laughed as he took in the filled stands, grinning with pride at the huge sign that some of his fellow Gryffindors made for the team. He spent a longer time squinting at the Ravenclaw stands than he should've. When he had to admit to himself that it was impossible to search for a small Ravenclaw girl amidst the countless students, he decided it would be easier to search from above.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch was ordering. Sophia and Lucy Manning firmly gripped each other's hands.

The process was so familiar to James that it came as a surprise to him when he found himself zooming up into the air behind his teammates. He let out a whoop of joy as _finally_ the air rushed past him and the ground was no longer restraining him down, and he was flying.

The sound of his cousin's voice blared through the stadium. "And they're off," Roxanne Weasley declared with a flourish. "On the Gryffindor team, there's McLaggen, Jordan, Potter…"

James drowned out Roxanne's animated voice (he heard it far too much at Weasley Family Dinners, he liked to tease her) and instead occupied his time by peering over at the Ravenclaw stands. He was close enough to see faces, but none of them was the one he was looking for. Row by row, his eyes searched for her brown hair, her innocent eyes…

"James!" Marcus shouted, and James turned just in time to see a Bludger heading towards Scorpius, who held the Quaffle.

He twisted his broom around and swung his bat, effectively intercepting the ball and pitting it towards Marcus, who immediately flung it at a Slytherin Chaser.

James tightened his grip on his broom, throwing one more glance back at the Ravenclaw stands. He really needed to focus. Surely, Julia was somewhere in the stands.

He turned his attention to the opposing team, barely noticed when he batted a Bludger and knocked the Quaffle out of the air into the hands of Kelly Childress, who nimbly passed it to Scorpius.

There was something strangely off about the Slytherins. They were most certainly not at their usual standards. Their formation was incredibly loose, and they didn't even seem like they were focused.

James turned and found Sophia above the field, her eyes darting this way and that for the Snitch. The way her eyebrows were furrowed quickly told James that he was not imagining it - the Slytherins really were not at their best, or even remotely close to it.

"60-0 to Gryffindor!" Roxanne called out as Scorpius lobbed the ball through the middle hoop. Sixty? James raised his eyebrow. Surely it hadn't been more than ten minutes yet.

The game quickly deteriorated in productivity. The Slytherins seemed to have completely given up, and when Gryffindor scored their seventh goal in a row, Roxanne commented, "Gryffindor's on fire! Although that might be from the red and gold they're wearing…" She looked around. "No 'ha-ha, Roxanne'? No laughs at all? I spent a rather long time thinking of that," she said with mock disappointment, which brought up a general chuckle through the crowds. "That's better, much be-"

"Roxanne," Professor Longbottom said from the side.

"Right. Wood blocks another attempt at a goal by Slytherin - aw, it was close, guys - and passes it to Malfoy, who runs it down…"

James grinned, letting his eyes trail from the commentator box to the blue stands. He struggled to keep control of his disappointment. Where was she? She wouldn't bail out on him, right? Even though she didn't like Quidditch, she'd said she would come, and he didn't think Julia was the type to break promises.

There was a shriek somewhere in the crowd and it was only by instinct that made James swerve to the right, just enough to avoid being hit by Sophia sweeping past him with her arm outstretched. A few seconds later, there was a large triumphant cheer from the Gryffindor stands, and Sophia pulled herself to a stop, holding the fluttering golden Snitch in her right hand.

"And McLaggen catches the Snitch, bringing up the total to 450-40, so the win goes to… Gryffindor!"

James dove towards the ground along with the rest of the players, cheering the entire way down.

"We did it!" he screamed, patting everyone on his team on the back and shaking hands with the Slytherins.

"We did it!" Sophia grinned proudly at the Gryffindor team. "We did it, guys. Great job! And this means…"

James and Marcus winked at each other. "Party in the Tower tonight!" they sang out at the top of their lungs.

"Party," Sophia agreed before skipping off to shake the Slytherin Captain's hand.

"Mate, that was epic," Marcus said to James, shaking his head. "I don't know, though. The Slytherins were certainly not at what Sophia said they'd be at. They were all distracted or something."

"Yeah," James nodded. "And how long did the game even last?"

"Just twenty minutes. Not long at all." Marcus clapped James's back. "I'm going to go congratulate Ash on her goals."

He left James, who spent a while watching the Slytherin team leave the field with their faces impassive and unreadable. He wondered what was going on with them. They always put up a fight, but this time…

He shrugged to himself and was just about to turn back to join Marcus and his team when he saw her.

She was rushing towards the team of Slytherins, her dark hair flying behind her. She wasn't wearing her uniform and was instead dressed in Muggle clothing, and his heart did a weird flip-flop thing that left him tingling and wanting more.

"Julia!" he called out, jogging forward a little. She was still extremely far away. "Julia!" She didn't turn. "Julia!"

When he realized she could not and would not hear him, he settled for watching her curiously. She approached a girl and a boy from the Slytherin team, and the three spoke with each other. James managed to make out the boy's face, and identified him as one of the Slytherin Beaters.

He did not know what they were talking about, and could not see the expressions on their faces, but he _did _see when Julia - his Julia - suddenly reached out and _held the Slytherin boy's hand_.

Goosebumps ran up James's arms and he stepped forward, rubbing his eyes. Yes, they were definitely holding hands. He watched in growing horror as Julia extended her arms and hugged the Beater. And then she did something that made his mouth and heart drop into the center of the Earth - she _kissed_ him.

Suddenly, the loud voices of the people milling around him were drowned out by his thoughts - rather, his single thought, which was that Julia Montague had just broken his heart.

He glared at the ground, the image of her kissing the Slytherin branded in his mind.

She didn't have to lead him on, did she? Was she even leading him on? Of course she was. The hand-holding. The date in the library. And all along, she'd had this boy from Slytherin who she was probably dating.

James looked up, his face hot with embarrassment and anger, to see Julia running towards him with an unfocused look in her eyes, as if she did not realize she was about to run straight into the crowd.

And even though he had the suspicion that she'd have barreled right past him, which would have allowed him to avoid talking to the girl who'd just broken his heart, James found himself reaching an arm out to stop her before she ran into the crowd and hurt herself.

Julia's face looked up at him from his arms. He blinked, realizing that his arm was wrapped around her, and wondering why it felt so nice and hating himself for thinking it. It was her large eyes, flicking downwards, that made James remember what he'd seen - what she'd done - and let go of her.

He struggled to find something to say before settling on, "Sorry." Except he wasn't. Not really.

Julia smiled at him. "It's okay," she said. Her eyes, which were locked on his face, were too much for James to bear after what he had just witnessed. He turned before he could say something stupid and forced himself to start walking away, back to Marcus.

"Wait!"

The sound of her confused voice was enough to stop him in his tracks, despite the warnings screaming in his head.

"Er…" Julia said, "congratulations on your win."

"Thanks," James said stiffly. _Good, now keep walking, _he instructed himself. "Though I suppose you might be upset about Slytherin losing." Damn.

He waited for her to speak, and when she did, it was with a note of false cheerfulness. "Well, I guess," she began, and he almost nodded. There it was. Proof. "I'm not upset, though. I just cheer for both sides. I'd be equally happy if Slytherin won, and equally sad if Gryffindor lost. I mean, I don't really know. I don't choose either team to cheer for. You know what I mean?"

James had turn to watch her face in the middle of her speaking. She looked nervous - of course she was nervous; she was lying.

His next words flew out of his mouth. "Tell that to your Beater friend, hm?" Great. And now she'd know he'd been spying on her.

Julia blinked. "Er…" she coughed. "I just did?"

The fact that she'd remembered that he was a Beater made him start to smile. _The kiss_, he reminded himself, and wiped the traces of a grin off his face. "I actually meant your Slytherin friend," he stated simply.

"My Slytherin friend…?" Julia arched her eyebrow at him.

He looked at the ground, unable to keep eye contact when she was looking at him like that. "The Beater. What's his name?" James searched through the mental files he kept of every Quidditch player he'd had to play against before coming up with a guess. "Nott?" His name tied an agonizing knot in James's throat.

"Will? What about him?" He had to give it to her. She was an excellent actress.

This thought, that she'd probably been acting all along in the library, in the Great Hall, made James said coldly, "Never mind. It doesn't matter." He spun around.

"Wait, what? Tell me." James heard her shuffle, then draw in a deep breath. He shut his eyes in anticipation. "Oh, no," Julia said. "No, Will - no, no, no, there's nothing going on between us." She knew, then, what he was thinking about. "No, Will and Lydia, they were just telling me something."

'Something'. The fact that she thought he'd believe or accept such a vague term disappointed James. "It didn't look like it was just that." He turned just in time to see her desperation, and for the first time, wondered if he should be believing her.

"It wasn't anything," she said. "I swear it wasn't anything. It wasn't on the lips, it was on the cheek! It's - it's _tradition_," she said desperately.

Well, there was something. James's spirits lifted a little. At least the kiss hadn't been on the lips.

But there was the chance she was still lying, so he said, "I should have known not to have…" …_trust you? Believe in you? Fall for you? _

The sheer thought of the last one made his hands sweat and his heartbeat accelerate. And yet… he had the strangest feeling that some truth was associated with it.

James shook his head. He couldn't very well go telling her that. He continued with a hint of petulance, "You didn't even come to see the match."

"What? Of course I did!" The emphasis she put on her words struck James as pure, and he was certain that she wasn't lying.

Despite this, he said, "But… you weren't in the Ravenclaw stands. And right after the game, you were already with the Slytherin team players. You were probably waiting for them so you could reunite with…" James paused, intending to say 'him', but he knew that he would sound bitter, so he changed it and said smoothly, "them."

Julia threw her hands up, her pretty face scrunched up. "I wasn't in the Ravenclaw stands because I was in the Gryffindor ones!" she said.

This took him by utter surprise. Why was she in the Gryffindor stands?

She continued, "And true, I was waiting for the game to finish outside the stands, but for a completely different reason than what I think you're thinking!"

"For what, then?" James asked.

Julia bit her lip, her eyes trailing downwards. "I needed them to tell me something."

And James didn't have anything else to say to that, so he started to walk again, and this time, she didn't call him back until he'd taken about twenty steps.

Her voice was quiet, but clear - the same voice that had had him in a complete fluster in the library, and even now, it entranced him and wove a sweet melody in his mind.

"There might be another trial. For people who were in Voldemort's Outer Circle." James froze in place. A trial? Voldemort? But then that would mean… "My father, Graham Montague, he's going to be in if the trial happens." Julia's smooth voice cracked, a delicate break that was immediately plastered over. "That's what Will and Lydia were telling me."

And suddenly, James felt so, _so_ petty, and he wanted nothing more than to turn back time just five minutes so he could tell himself not to be so harsh with her, because how could he have been so short and cold while she'd just been told her father might be tried for something that happened over twenty-five years ago?

He whipped around, an apology on the tip of his tongue. But she was already gone, her dark hair swinging in step with her as she walked off the field.

He didn't blame her for leaving.

* * *

**Whew, that was a long chapter. Hope you guys liked that :) One more chapter left!**


	4. Pygmy Puffs

******Last chapter, guys! It doesn't exactly follow the double POV thing at all, really, but I felt it worked better this way. Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

******Julia's POV**

The stars shimmering on the ceiling of the Ravenclaw common room had always enchanted Julia.

The way that she could see every single constellation, as if she were truly outside, was beautiful, marvelous, and in a sense more magical than any other wonder that she'd experienced at Hogwarts.

But as she sat, curled up on the royal blue couch that sat in the center of the room, Julia wasn't staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't contemplating the vast stars and possibilities they presented, and she simply wasn't allowing the dark blanket of twinkling lights to cover and block out her thoughts, because even though the thoughts were overwhelming her, Julia found comfort in the fact that though she was potentially losing both her father and James, she had yet to lose her thoughts.

She was, after all, a Ravenclaw.

The common room had long since been emptied, as everyone had gone down to dinner. Christina and Madeleine were the last to leave, and only did so at Julia's insistence that she would just need a little more time alone.

She didn't tell them about her father because she could not and would not be able to bear their faces at the connection of her surname to the man who had once been a Death-Eater, though she wasn't sure if they'd recognize his name. Madeleine, who was a Muggleborn, surely would not. But Christina, whose mother had once been very close friends with Ginny Potter, would perhaps have a memory triggered concerning her father, and Julia could not have that happen.

Her Pygmy Puff, Daphne, snuggled closer into the crook of Julia's elbow. Julia stroked the purple fur of the Puff, and whispered, "I guess it's just you and me again." _Mother_, she added silently.

Daphne let out a soft mournful noise, which made Julia wonder just how much her Pygmy Puff knew about her namesake.

She fingered the edge of a dark blue cushion. Her Housemates would be coming back in maybe an hour. She knew they'd take longer than normal at dinner; Headmaster McGonagall always had some sorts of festivities when they had Quidditch games (and even more animated ones when Gryffindor won - Julia supposed it was because of her lasting loyalty to what had once been her House).

The firm knock on the Ravenclaw Tower door startled her out of her thoughts, causing Julia to clutch her Pygmy Puff tightly for a moment before grimacing. Maybe her solitude would not be able to last another hour, after all.

She heard the knocker say in its melodious voice, "When faced with a sphinx, do you run or stay?"

Julia raised her eyebrow at this question. Normally the knocker was much more philosophical, and the answer to this, for a Ravenclaw, was obvious.

"What? A sph- I don't know, but can you let me in?"

Julia froze. That was certainly not the voice of a Ravenclaw.

It was James. What was he doing here? She scrambled off of the couch, untangling her limbs as she stood by the couch in shock.

"When faced with a sphinx, do you run or stay?" the knocker repeated.

"A what? A sphinx? Why does this matter? I don't know what I'd do, but I certainly wouldn't r_un._I'd stay to fight it!"

Julia groaned before quickly stopping herself, hoping James couldn't hear her through the walls.

He seemed occupied with the knocker, who was saying rather triumphantly, "When faced with a sphinx, do you run or stay?" Julia strongly suspected that the knocker somehow knew that it was not a Ravenclaw that stood in front of the Tower, and had decided to have a little fun with James.

She shook her head. The Ravenclaw knocker did have a strange sense of humor, did it not?

Julia could practically see James scowl. "I _fight_," he emphasized, his Gryffindor personality glaringly evident.

"When faced with a sphinx-"

"-do I run or stay, yeah, yeah," James said. "And I answered! I fight. Can't I just go in now, please? There's someone… someone I have to talk to."

His voice dropped towards the end, and there was obvious guilt in his words. Julia gently placed Daphne down onto the couch and took a few steps towards the door.

"Please," said James, and the desperation in his voice raised a notch.

"When faced with a sphinx, do you run or stay?"

"I fight!" James exclaimed, and he swore right afterwards, muttering something unflattering about knockers that Julia could not quite make out.

It was then that Julia spontaneously decided to put the poor boy out of his misery, despite the hurt she still felt from the assumptions he'd made about her. Before her courage and brief spurt of pity failed her, she strode past the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and pulled the wooden door open, revealing a very dumbfounded and shocked James holding a plate of sandwiches. Behind him floated two bottles of what looked strangely like butterbeer.

"J-Julia!" James's hand flew to his hair as a subconscious gesture as he stared at her standing in the doorway of the Tower.

She nodded at him briefly before facing the knocker. "When you're faced with a sphinx, you stay," said Julia, "and you answer the question."

"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw." The knocker fell silent with a final tinkle of laughter.

James looked to have temporarily forgotten the tension between them as he said indignantly, "I said I'd stay! How come it didn't let me in when _I _said that?"

"Because you said you'd fight," said Julia. "And because the knocker probably knew that you weren't a Ravenclaw."

James glared at the knocker, which would have been a comical sight if Julia wasn't currently thinking of his accusations down at the Quidditch Pitch. She knew that it might've seemed odd from afar, but still… It had hurt to hear that after finding out about her father.

"Merlin, Dad never told me about _that_," James was muttering to himself. "All he said was that he came here before! He never told me about the fact that there's a _knocker_that keeps people from coming in!"

"Well, no Ravenclaw would choose to stay and _fight_," said Julia with a raised eyebrow.

"Good point." James' eyes widened. "I meant that in the best way possible."

She suppressed the urge to smile and tell him that she was sure that her Housemates would take that as a compliment - she certainly did.

But instead, she just pursed her lips and said, "Shouldn't you be in the Hall, celebrating your team's victory?"

James shook his head. "No, they'll manage." He took a deep breath. "Actually, I came up here to tell you that I'm really sorry for everything I said after the game."

Julia bit down on her lip, wondering if she should speak. If she did, she wouldn't know what to say, because half of her wanted to accept his apology - he seemed to be speaking truthfully - but the other half of her still wanted to have time to think things out about her father before dealing with James.

"Come in," she said for the sake of saying something, contradicting both of her urges.

"Come inside?" James asked, seemingly startled at the request. "Like, into the Tower?"

She rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the way. "Where else?"

"Right. Right." James cautiously made to walk inside before stopping and glancing down at the sandwiches. "Oh, I brought you some dinner. I thought you might be hungry."

Julia's eyes fell on the bottles hovering behind James. He followed her eyes and said, "Oh, and some butterbeer."

"You can't get butterbeer from the kitchens," said Julia automatically. She should know. Once, her craving for butterbeer had intensified so much that she and her friends had to comb through the school to find some for her. (They ended up getting a bottle from Professor Flitwick, who had a soft spot for Julia and happened to have some in his office.)

James's surprise quickly morphed into delight. He looked positively thrilled as he said eagerly, "Oh, so you've been to the kitchens?"

"Briefly."

His smile grew wider, if that was possible, and he sauntered into the common room looking very pleased about something.

Raising her eyebrows, Julia gently shut the door behind her.

"Nice statue," James said appreciatively, looking up at Rowena Ravenclaw.

"It is, isn't it?" agreed Julia.

"'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'," read James.

Julia watched him as he marveled over the statue, then the ceiling of the common room. She finally said, "People'll be coming up soon."

He averted his eyes from the stars and said, "Right." He placed down the plate of sandwiches onto a small table. "Eat," he encouraged as he put the butterbeer bottles on the space where she'd been sitting at on the couch.

Julia took a sandwich but did not bite into it.

After a short moment where neither of them looked at each other, Julia for fear of what she'd see in his hazel eyes, James finally stepped forward, his face solemn. It didn't fit him.

"Listen… I was a real git to you this morning. I shouldn't have made assumptions like that. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you. I guess I wasn't really thinking clearly. And I'm sorry to hear about the trial. Actually," he said, scratching his chin nervously, "I think my dad mentioned it in a letter to me this morning."

Perhaps her horror showed on her face, because James rushed to say, "Well, he didn't say anything about it, not really. He just briefly mentioned it. And it didn't sound like he liked the idea."

"Your dad's a good person," Julia said.

To her surprise, James snorted. "Not that he tells us anything about what he does."

"Hmm?" Julia asked, confused.

James nodded. "Al, Lily, and I didn't even find out that he and Aunt 'Mione and Uncle Ron were _warheroes_until we came to Hogwarts and everyone was gushing over the fact that Dad's Harry Potter. It was scary, really, to have all these seventh-years come up to me and know my dad's name." He suddenly smirked. "You should've seen Al and Rose's faces the first time someone came up to them to talk about our parents."

It was so strange for Julia to hear James speak so casually about Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. She'd read so many books about the trio, how they'd bravely fought in the war, what they had done to rebuild the Wizarding society afterwards.

Her father had been listed in some of those books, too. On the opposite end of the string, of course.

"But hey, about the trial…" James placed a warm hand on her forearm, and his touch brought a series of sparks that pleasantly flooded through her being. "Don't worry about it. My dad, he's definitely going to do something about it, and the Ministry can't really ignore him."

Julia stared at him. "You think so?" She could hear the desperation in her voice.

"Yeah." James gave her a resilient smile.

"Thanks," she said. "And I'm so-"

She was cut off by a yell from James, who stumbled back and crashed into the plate of sandwiches before tipping over onto the floor. Julia watched in utter confusion as he plucked at the back of his shirt, his face contorted into a mix of confusion and fear.

"What the hell-" he gasped, "-is on me?!"

"Er…" Julia blinked, watching James squirm on the ground in discomfort. "I don't- Daphne!"

The purple Pygmy Puff was barely visible, hidden beneath the folds of James's shirt, glimpses of the purple fur here and there. She was squealing, wriggling as much as a ball of fluff could.

"Daphne? Who's Da- Ahhh!"

James bolted upright, gasping, and Julia's Pygmy Puff slipped out from under his shirt, landing on the floor with a soft thump.

"Daphne!" Julia said, kneeling down and cupping the Puff into her hands.

James's look of surprise slowly turned into one that was teasingly accusatory as she tucked the Puff safely into her arms.

"I thought you said you didn't have a Pygmy Puff?"

Julia opened her mouth to retort, but then she truly caught sight of his face. Bits of sandwiches hung from his hair, caught in his dark brown locks. There was some ham stuck on his clothes, bread crumbs scattered along his arms and legs. The expression on James's face became too much to handle, and instead of wittily replying, Julia burst out laughing.

When the Ravenclaw Tower's inhabitants returned from a festive dinner, they found Julia and James throwing bits of sandwiches at each other. A purple Pygmy Puff sat in the midst of it all, her eyes bright with delight.

* * *

**James's POV**

The moment the Hogwarts Express pulled up in King's Cross, James Potter hopped off the train with his girlfriend, Julia Montague, trailing behind him.

"Calm down," he was saying to the Ravenclaw. "It's just Dad, he won't bite. It's Mum you should be scared of."

"I'm about to meet the people who ended the second Wizarding War," whispered Julia, her face white and her hands shaking. Her trunk wobbled in her hands before coming to a stop. "I can't _calm down!_"

James rolled his eyes as he reached out and grabbed the handle of her cart. "Come on. I see Uncle Ron's red hair."

"Rose's dad and mum are here?"

James grinned at the wonder in his girlfriend's voice. "Well, duh," he said merrily. "Where else would they be?"

"Right," Julia said faintly.

"Come on." He carelessly swung an arm over her dainty shoulders.

They slipped their way through the crowd of anxious parents and excited students, with James maneuvering a path with their trunks. It was lucky that Uncle Ron was so tall, or James would've had a much harder time finding his way to his parents.

"Dad!" he called out when he spotted his father's raven black hair. "Dad!"

His father turned around and instantly spotted James struggling to break through the crowd. He put a hand up and waved. James grinned back, and when they finally reached his father, the first thing he said was, "Dad, you've gotten shorter."

"You just keep getting taller," Harry Potter said, ruffling his first son's hair. "How was the ride back?"

James grinned wickedly. "Great," he said mischievously. "Marcus, Harold, and I pranked at least four people."

His dad rolled his eyes at him. "Won't your mum be happy to hear that." When James started to look around wildly for his mother's red hair, Harry added, "She and Aunt Hermione went closer to the train, and Uncle Ron went to talk to your Uncle Bill."

James let out a breath of relief before turning around to present his girlfriend to his father. "Er, Dad, this is Julia."

His father's face lit up. "Oh, Julia," he said, "James has told us so much about you in his letters!"

"Not really," James spluttered, but neither his father or his girlfriend seemed to be listening.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Potter," Julia said with a small laugh, sounding remarkably calm for someone who'd spent the majority of the train ride practicing what she would say.

"Ginny's dying to meet you," his dad said as the two shook hands. "She says you sound like the perfect person to control James."

"Hey, did Mum really say that?" James pouted.

"I try to," Julia said. Her brown eyes took on the sparkle that James so loved to see. "Though the only way to keep him from doing pranks seems to be making his friends go out and play Quidditch."

"Hey, Quidditch's fun," James protested.

"I think having two parents who like the sport made it inevitable for him to like Quidditch," Harry whispered to Julia.

"Unfortunately," came a voice that James recognized to be his aunt's. He turned around to see her brown curls and kind eyes. She wore a wry smile and was shaking her head.

"Hey, Aunt 'Mione!" James smiled.

"Hello James," Hermione Weasley said. "Your mum's looking for you. Your sister told her about your pranks on the train." James grimaced as his aunt turned to Julia. "You must be Julia."

His girlfriend's startled face made James smirk. "Er," she said, her face turning pink, "um… oh, yes, I'm Julia! Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."

Hermione smiled kindly at Julia. "You, too. Ginny and Harry here have told me you're interested in books?"

Julia's face instantly brightened. "Oh, yes! I've just started to read…"

She and Hermione began to engage in a lengthy conversation with book titles that made James's head spin, and he turned to his dad, who was watching the pair with a twinkle in his green eyes.

"Girls," James muttered.

"She's nice, a sweet girl," his dad said. "Graham Montague and Daphne Greengrass's daughter, eh?"

"Yeah…"

After a while of watching the two converse, Harry cleared his throat. Both Hermione and Julia turned, their eyes alight with excitement. "Hate to break up this chat," Harry said, "but we should find the rest of our clan, don't you think?"

"Of course, of course," James's aunt said brightly. "We'll continue this another time. Julia, you're welcome to come over during the summer anytime."

"Oh, yes," his father said. "Come over all you want - James, Al, and the rest of them don't do anything productive, anyway."

James interjected. "Uncle George and I restock my pranking supplies." His aunt shot him a disapproving look.

"Thank you," Julia said. "And, er, I also wanted to thank you for something else."

James moved to step closer to her, hoping his presence would be some form of encouragement. He knew that this was one of the main reasons she'd wanted to meet his family.

She gave him a brief smile filled with gratitude, then addressed his aunt and dad. "This all happened a few months ago, but I just wanted to thank you for preventing that trial that they were going to have on former Death-Eaters. My father would have been in it, and I…" She paused, evidently searching for the right words to say. "I'm just really thankful for both of you, and also Mr. Weasley, for doing preventing it from happening."

James thought that Aunt Hermione was going to start attacking Julia with hugs, for the look on her face.

"We'll tell him," his aunt immediately promised. "And Julia…"

James's dad finished for her. "We're just happy to help."

The two gave Julia such brilliant smiles that James was sure their faces were going to crack. When his dad flicked his gaze towards him with a nearly imperceptible nod of genuine approval, James widened his eyes and tried his best to communicate that he wanted to have some time alone with his girlfriend.

His dad nodded fondly again and said to his aunt, "We should go look for Gin and the others. You'll catch up to us, James?"

James nodded eagerly.

As his dad and aunt started to walk towards the train, James could hear his aunt say offhandedly, "You're getting better at this eloquence thing, Harry. Now there's just Ron left to…" Her voice faded in the mumbles and shouts of the crowd.

James turned back to Julia, who was staring awestruck at the spot his dad and aunt had been. "Not so bad, huh?" He grinned.

"I can't believe I just met Harry Potter," Julia whispered. "And your aunt! She's so cool!"

"When she and my mum aren't telling us to study more, yeah," James said, placing his hands on Julia's waist. "Hey, you'll come over in the summer, right? I'll send you a letter, I could Floo you there."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Not sure how my dad would like that."

"Oh, come on. He didn't sound that displeased when you told him about us," James said, remembering the letter he and Julia had read together in the Owlery. Mr. Montague, though very formal, hadn't insulted James in his letter, which Julia had told him was a positive notion.

"True," Julia admitted. "And I would like to come over."

"So it's settled then," James said, looking into Julia's brown eyes. He tucked a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." She suddenly smirked. "Well, not your pranks."

"Hey!"

She laughed, a delightful noise of mirth that made James pull her closer with affection. "Just kidding."

"You better be," James said, before gently putting his lips on her soft ones.

And as he breathed in the sweet scent of strawberries that lingered in her hair, James reflected on his initial thought that she was one hell of a crazy girl, thinking he hadn't been far from the mark.

After all, Julia Montague certainly did drive him crazy. Not that he minded, of course.

* * *

******And that's the end! :) **

******I want to thank everyone who has been on this short ride of a multi-chapter with me! I couldn't have done it without you all - thank you, thank you a billion times and more.**

******-Summer**


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